Hollywood's Invasion of Normandy

Rating: 7/10 (22 June 2009)

Based on the novel of the same name by Cornelius Ryan this film tells the story of the D-Day Invasion from a wide variety of perspectives.
The film follows both the Americans and the British as well as the Germans. We also see both the commanders and the men in the field as well as all the different aspects of the invasion force.
The major stars included; John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger as well as least another dozen well known names.
It is perhaps the huge cast or more accurately the large number of individual stories being told here that make it difficult to connect more closely with the film. Though this may have been necessary to demonstrate the scope of the invasion. Most of these individual stories are compelling as are the performances, but the sum of the parts ends up a bit too disjointed. So while this remains an impressive achievement that I recommend, the film falls a little short of my expectations.
The film marked as least the temporary return of the noted producer Darryl F Zanuck from a lengthy self imposed exile. This was also considered to be the last epic filmed in black and white.